BARHAM SALIH: What the Kurds Want

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The transition in Iraq will not be easy, and must be assessed in its proper context. Iraq's decimated civil society - coupled with the many external influences - will inevitably make the transition a rather complicated process. The future of Iraq is of consequence not only to the people of Iraq, but also the wider Middle East and beyond. The stakes cannot be any higher: for those of us who would like the Islamic Middle East to aspire toward more democracy, as well as for those who seek to maintain the status quo.

April 22, 2003

Wall street Journal

SULEIMANIYAH, Iraq - George Bush and Tony Blair are icons for Iraqi Kurds for overthrowing an evil regime. We are proud that Kurds fought side by side with the coalition forces. According to the Americans, our Kurdish soldiers gave an excellent account of themselves. There is no better motivation on the battlefield than to know that freedom is ahead, rather than some Fedayeen thug behind.

In parts of Iraq there has been inevitable disorder. The Baath Party pushed itself into every corner of life. Its defeat has led to a temporary vacuum. That is being filled, and leaders of communities are emerging from within Iraq. If we are to build democracy we must work with those who endured Saddam's Iraq and enable them to discard the fear that dominated their lives. They lived under a regime that executed people for suspected thoughts as well as for real opposition. They have to be empowered, not have self-serving and unknown leaders forced upon them. Top regime criminals must be tried. The Baathist mentality of deference must cease.

The new Iraqi state should have clearly limited powers. Those who want a strong executive presidency show no understanding of either Iraq or the Middle East. The region is too full of strongmen, many of whom are the West's best friends - when it suits them. It would be better for Iraq to have a representative, collegial leadership. It cannot be democratic if it is not also federal, a state that recognizes the rights of my long-abused people. We Kurds, some 25% of all Iraqis, have not been the only victims of Saddam and the failed state of Iraq, but we have been its primary victims. The Kurds are Iraq's democratic vanguard, thanks to 12 years of air cover; we have a diversity of opinions, a free media, and a respect for minority rights that is not found elsewhere in the Islamic Middle East.

Free Iraqis need to strike a careful balance. We must recognize suppressed identities and religious rights while not favoring them. The new Iraq must not be communally based. Federalism will be geographic, discrimination illegal. Justice demands that we reverse ethnic cleansing. The Arabization of Iraqi Kurdistan, the settlement program that few have ever heard of, began 40 years ago, before the long tyranny of the Baath Party. Over 600,000 persons in Iraqi Kurdistan, mostly Kurds but also Turkmens and Assyrian Christians, are internally displaced. In the wake of liberation, there have been regrettable episodes in which individuals have taken the law into their hands in an attempt to redress Arabization. All reversals of ethnic cleansing must be conducted lawfully: Iraqis have had enough of violence and summary justice. The Arab settlers who were used to colonize Khanaqin, Sinjar, Makhmoor, Sheikhan and Kirkuk must be treated fairly. We must not tolerate abuses.

Within the region we must build good relations with our neighbors, promote the peaceful resolution of disputes and, above all, end the use of terrorism. At the same time, we will politely and firmly ask our neighbors to leave us alone. As for the U.N., it has a role to play; but it must win back the trust of Iraqis. The U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program has been mismanaged appallingly. Half of the money allocated to Iraqi Kurdistan never reached us, thanks to bureaucratic obstacles erected in Baghdad and supported by U.N. Plaza. In Suleimaniyah, we have waited five years for the program to build a 400-bed hospital. No money from Oil-for-Food was allocated to cover the basic running costs of the Kurdish authorities. We could not pay a single Kurdish teacher or doctor with this money, while Oil-for-Food largesse went to Uday Hussein's National Olympic Committee.

Despite change in Baghdad, there has been no change of heart at the U.N. The U.N. Secretary General has the right to take unspent Kurdish money from the Oil-for-Food program and use it as he sees fit for Iraq's immediate humanitarian needs. Nobody can object to that in principle. The problem, as ever, is U.N. practice. We have been told that any money taken from the Kurdish account is "reimbursable," that we will still be entitled to it. When, how, and, frankly, if, this money will ever be reimbursed we do not know. Let international control of Iraqi oil continue, but please, let it be to the benefit of Iraqis and not U.N. bureaucrats.

The transition in Iraq will not be easy, and must be assessed in its proper context. Iraq's decimated civil society - coupled with the many external influences - will inevitably make the transition a rather complicated process. The future of Iraq is of consequence not only to the people of Iraq, but also the wider Middle East and beyond. The stakes cannot be any higher: for those of us who would like the Islamic Middle East to aspire toward more democracy, as well as for those who seek to maintain the status quo.

These historic challenges can best be tackled through a partnership between Iraqis and the U.S.-led coalition. A broad-based provisional national Iraqi government must be established very soon, tasked with maintaining order, resuming public services and preparing for elections - both local, for municipalities, and national, for a constituent assembly to ratify a new constitution. Free Iraqis must shoulder the responsibility for governing their country. These are great challenges. We do not pretend that we can surmount all of our problems and we will need consistent support. Whatever happens, let us not forget the terror that we have emerged from, just as we will never forget those who freed us.

Mr. Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government.